Techbargains Review - Boxee Box by D-Link

Right now, it seems that we are in a transitional phase with regards to how we watch television. Some of us are still using our cable/satellite providers to watch the shows we love, while others are starting to look to the Internet for that very same content. While we don't know what this landscape will look like in 2-3 years, we do think more and more people will want to access content over the Internet. It allows us to watch what we want when we want. The Boxee Box, by D-Link, is one of the very first products coming out that aims to bring that Internet content to your TV in a seamless, integrated package.

User Experience - There are many boxes out there that will let you play content from the various online sites, but Boxee delivers that content to you in a way that actually makes sense. Instead of grouping content by the provider, Boxee displays the content to you in a searchable or sorted manner, making where the content comes from less relevant. For example, when you go to 'Popular Shows', the shows are there, all together. It is only when you click on a show that you are notified where that content is coming from. This allows you to get to what you want to watch more quickly. Additionally, being able to browse the various genres of movies and shows lets you discover things you might not have seen otherwise.

Playability Of Content - For those of you with lots of content (we're not asking where you got it from), this box can play it all. Videos play back very smoothly, and while online content varies from source to source, we were pleasantly surprised with the quality. And, on the off chance that it doesn't play a file, you can send a sample clip into Boxee and they will try to add support for it. This falls in line with their stated goal of enabling playback of as many file types as possible.

GUI - Although they have made changes from the software that runs on your computer, we found the GUI to be functional, responsive, and pleasant on the eyes. Cover art and movie information are culled from the Internet to enhance the movie watching experience, a big improvement over other media players.

Remote Control - The very slim dual-sided remote offers all the functionality you would want without a lot of buttons. On the "front" side, there is only a directional pad and Play/Pause and Home/Back buttons. On the "back" lies the QWERTY keypad. We liked that we could use the remote with one hand, making it more like a traditional TV viewing experience. Our only complaints were periodically hitting a button on the reverse side of the remote, having a hard time with the color of the lettering, and we did wish there was a mute button.

Social Media Integration - We were surprised by how much we liked being able to view videos that our friends had posted to Twitter and Facebook. Also, if you like a video you are watching and want to share it with your friends, one click will get it posted to your social media site. You can also "follow" other users of Boxee to see what they are watching. This is another great way of discovering videos you might have missed otherwise.

Design Elements - The Boxee Box just looks cool sitting on your shelf. It gives the effect that it has sunk into whatever you place it on. We also liked the little logo that lights up on the side of the box. The light even dims when you play a video, as not to interfere with your viewing experience. Some users may have issues with integrating it into their current set up though, as it is shaped oddly.

What We Didn't Like

Where's The Netflix - We were very surprised to see that the Boxee Box shipped without support for Netflix, as it is supported on the Boxee computer software, and many other devices. The same can be said for Hulu and Vudu (there is an app for Vudu, but it is not live yet). All three services are promised to be implemented very soon, with Netflix (streamed at 1080p) coming before the end of the year. We understand that agreements need to be hashed out, but this was a big disappointment. We also hope that the content from these providers will be searchable, unlike on the Google TV.

Local Content De-Emphasized - For those of us whose main purpose for this box is to watch content off our network, the UI has made that a little more difficult. When you select 'Movies' or 'Shows' you are brought to the online section, whereas you used to have the choice between local and online content. Also, the various filters and sorting methods that apply to online media are not present for local files. This makes navigating large groups of files cumbersome. The good news is that Boxee has already announced that they are planning to fix it in the very near future.

Controlling the Content - When you press the right direction on the remote the file skips ahead 30 seconds, instead of a 2x, 4x progression. This makes it hard to get to a certain spot in a movie. This is pretty standard on most media players so this omission came as a bit of a surprise. Also, when viewing online sources, many times we had to move the cursor over to the "Full Screen" button to enlarge the video. This may not be Boxee's fault, but it would probably turn off less techie users.

Wireless Problems - Like Sony's Google TV offering, this unit does not receive IR signals. Consequently, you will not be able to control it with universal remotes. Also, when trying to stream over the wireless connection, videos took longer to load than on other wireless media players we have tested. Boxee has admitted that this is an issue and is looking into it.

Loss Of Functionality - If you were a previous user of the Boxee software on your computer, you will probably find the new 1.0 UI lacking. Many of the features that made the software popular have been stripped. Once again, Boxee has taken note and is working to reintroduce many of these features.

Our Verdict

Overall, the user experience is what sets the Boxee Box apart from other media players. Sure, it can play virtually any video file, but the tricky part is presenting all that content to the user. This is where the Boxee software succeeds. It allows you to explore all the content that is out there, but in somewhat of an organized way. Yes, the lack of Netflix, Hulu, and Vudu are a big disappointment at launch, but these issues will be ironed out over time.

If you are looking for a box to just play online content, or to just play local content, you can spend a lot less. But if you want a box that can play both kinds of content, with a rich user experience to boot, at $199.99 this should be on your short list of options. Much like Google TV, we see good things in the future for this platform.